


The Perils of Trust

by ClementRage



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-19 19:11:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15516609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClementRage/pseuds/ClementRage
Summary: Aeris is captured by Shinra in the Sleeping Forest. No one is very pleased about this.





	The Perils of Trust

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Licoriceallsorts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Licoriceallsorts/gifts).



**“Then, I’ll be going now. I’ll come back when this is all over, okay?”**

  
Aeris opened her eyes. She hadn’t known she could do that, but the closer she got to the city the more it felt like coming home. She wouldn’t have been able to connect to someone else’s dreams a month ago, but she was learning. They might really have a chance.  
“Thank you,” she said, stroking the nearest tree, and got moving. Once upon a time, she hadn’t been outdoorsy, but she’d been getting a lot of practice lately. Still, moving through dense forest in a long dress was a delicate operation, and she hadn’t got very far before a footfall sounded behind her.

  
“Not so fast!” said a frustratingly familiar voice. She spun.

  
The two Turks were less than twenty feet away through the trees, the soft carpet of moss muffling their footsteps. Aeris tucked her Lunar Harp into her jacket and set her feet, bringing Princess Guard up.

  
“We don’t want to hurt you,” Rude said, empty hands raised, as the two Turks slowly began to fan out. Reno raised an eyebrow at her bruised face but said nothing.

  
Aeris would have laughed if she could have spared the concentration. She had enough experience running from the Turks to know that she couldn’t take these two in a fight, and running away from Turks was always a temporary solution. They found you again eventually. They were eyeing Princess Guard a bit askance, though. It wasn’t her normal staff, this one was a sceptre with spikes. Something else to thank the Cetra for. She’d only get one chance. Rude set down his own Lunar Harp to leave his hands free. Her one saving grace was that they wouldn’t want to hurt her. Yet. Probably. Aeris edged backwards slowly, shifting her grip to cut her own hand on Princess Guard’s spines as Rude stepped within reach. She feinted at him, he drew back –too easily, something was wrong here, but it was too late for regrets.

  
“Seal Evil!”

  
The two Turks froze in place. They’d never seen that trick before, and apparently Cait had never told them to expect it. She didn’t have long, but it was enough to put her heel through their fallen Lunar Harp and bolt away through the trees. If she could just get out of range, the forest would do the rest.

  
The third Turk, who had been quietly flanking her during the previous conversation, slammed into her a hundred yards down the line, bringing them both off their feet. Aeris rolled and swung Princess Guard, but the Turk got her arm up enough to fend off the spikes. Aeris managed to shove the haft against the Turk’s jaw, splitting her lip, before the blonde woman growled and ripped away her staff. She did, however lose her grip on Aeris herself with the move, allowing Aeris to stand upright and run. She knew she couldn’t get far, but if she could just get a little distance she could get lost in the trees.

  
The Turk didn’t give her that chance, but as she was brought down again a nearby tree root twitched aside to reveal a flash of red. The Turk ripped at her jacket, tearing it free, but Aeris got the five feet necessary to seize the materia and hold it high.

  
“Stay where you are! This is Kjata, the spirit binding this forest! If I summon it, you’re not getting up!”

  
“I might surprise you,” the Turk said with a bloody smile. “I’m tougher than I look.”

  
Grenades slid out of her sleeves. At this range, there was no way both of them wouldn’t be caught in the blast, but it was a roll of the dice whether Aeris could summon and dematerialise to safety before their fuses detonated.

  
She’d never summoned Kjata before, but it had to be powerful to bind this forest, and the general rule with summons was that the more powerful they were, the longer they took to get to the point. Tricky.

  
Aeris scanned the undergrowth. They appeared to have outpaced the other two Turks, at least. Small mercies. She edged backwards, holding the materia high.

  
“I don’t think we’ve met?” Aeris said, after a moment. For better or worse, she knew most of the Turks. This one looked familiar, but…  
The Turk shot her a mildly incredulous look, then shrugged. “Elena. I’d say it was a pleasure, but…” She nodded towards their situation. Aeris cocked her head, suddenly realising why this new Turk looked so familiar.

  
“Are you related to Rose? How is she these days?”

  
A twitch. Bad topic. “She’s dead. Killed by AVALANCHE, just like my l- boss, Tseng. Because of you and your friends.”

  
Aeris almost lost her concentration. “Tseng’s dead?” While they’d parted on poor terms, she’d been close to him for long enough that she was certain she would have felt that, especially here.

  
“What? You don’t know? He loved you!”

  
Making her angry was a bad move. Aeris cast around for a change in topic. A lighter one, preferably. She nodded towards the grenades. “Is it worth dying to kill me? Are you that dedicated to your job?”

  
Elena’s eyes hooded for a moment. “For Shinra? No. For Rosalind? Absolutely. Test me.”

  
Aeris stared into her eyes and believed. Which meant she couldn’t take the chance. Had it been just her own life she was gambling, she might have rolled the dice, but it wasn’t that simple anymore. The Planet was at stake. She tossed the Kjata materia aside into the undergrowth as hard as she could and bolted again.

  
Elena would have to keep up or be lost in the forest, and she did, which meant abandoning Kjata was safe. She didn’t want it in Shinra’s hands.

  
By the time Elena caught her again, the trees were thinning out. Elena’s two grenades did see use, though. Straight down the throat of a Hungry that tried to eat her, spattering them both with blood and viscera.

  
By this point, Aeris knew she couldn’t outpace Elena, whose entire job was chasing down fugitives. She did, however, manage to draw out her Lunar Harp and smash it. Elena shot her a very tired look.

  
“What now?”

  
“You can’t get back through the forest without my help. I’ve got something to do, I won’t co-operate until I’m finished it. After that, we’ll see. In the City, there were defences she could use to escape.

  
Elena sighed and kept walking. She was ready to fight if she had to, but wandering the forest until she starved didn’t quite appeal. And the longer they travelled together, the more likely an opportunity would arise.“Fine.”

  
They walked a bit farther, and eventually cleared the trees, revealing the City of the Ancients in all its glory sitting in the valley below…and the glorious Highwind, parked on the plains beside it. Aeris tried to run, but this time Elena was faster, and had her hand on the back of her neck and her hands bound behind her before she could move more than a step.

  
“Let’s go meet my bosses, shall we?” Elena said, and force marched her down the hill.

  
000000

  
“We can’t afford to lose any more people…” Reno said, glass raised. “Boss gone, old crew gone, and now the rookie… There’ll be nothing left of us if this keeps up.”

  
“She can take care of herself…”

  
“Against Aeris? Sure. But the rest of the crew won’t be far away.”

  
Silence reigned for a time. After a long dispiriting day wandering the forest, they’d made it back to Bone Village in one piece, but no bribe, threat, or use of force would convince the dig manager to excavate any faster, so they were stuck until tomorrow. Turks didn’t fret, but they were fretting anyway. As expected, Reno broke the silence first.

  
“ Come to think of it, why would Aeris be travelling alone?”

  
“Separated?”

“She didn’t call for help.”

  
“Strange… what could she be hiding from?”

  
The great thing about being partners for so long was that they didn’t have to say much. Although they had the rookie for that… It was more of a help than either of them were willing to admit, having someone making noise in the newly empty office, keeping it from becoming a tomb.

  
“We have to find her soon.”

  
Rude gave a single nod, and then silence blossomed once more.

  
000000

  
“Then excavate faster, dammit! We can’t leave Aeris out there alone!”

  
The shout drew Rude out of the town bar. The dig manager, he was pleased to see, was just as unruffled by AVALANCHE as the Turks. It would have hurt his professional pride otherwise.

  
“Sure, if you want your Harp damaged. How many of those things to you think are left buried here, anyway?” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the newly emerged Turk.

  
“Those guys took the last one, we’re not even sure there are any more.”

  
_Shit._ Three sets of eyes landed on him.

  
“We’ll be taking that Harp,” Cloud said, one hand drifting towards his sword.

  
Rude looked up and whistled. Reno dropped down from the upper levels where he’d been supervising the excavation, EMR in hand. The two parties stared at each other.

  
“We can’t let this one slide..” Reno said slowly, shifting into a stance. “Not this time. We don’t leave our people to die, not again.” They couldn’t wait another day for another harp, not with Elena in the forest alone.

  
AVALANCHE blinked at the evident pain in his voice. Tifa didn’t drop her stance, but stepped back slightly. “What’s wrong?”

  
“We were tracking Aeris, but lost her in the forest… along with Elena.”

  
AVALANCHE exchanged glances. They’d successfully worked together before, but the Turks had surreptitiously murdered their target at the end. If that target was Aeris…

  
“Found it!” Came the cry from above, and a woman in purple jumped down to the village entrance, Harp in hand. “Wow, these things are really in demand lately. You guys, the Girl in Pink, and that guy in the Black Cape.”

  
There was a pregnant pause, and then all five of them took off running.

  
000000

  
Aeris had always wanted to ride this airship, but in handcuffs hadn’t been how she’d envisioned it. A squad of troopers came to meet them, keeping in solid formation.

  
The squad leader shot her an assessing glance.

  
“Either Sephiroth’s got himself a major makeover, or you brought in the wrong captive.”

  
“Shut the fuck up Mel,” Elena said, smiling.

  
Apparently accepting that as a friendly greeting, the squad formed up around them. They were marched up on the deck and through the main doors, and it was clear that there was no escaping now. This place wasn’t so much a ship as a fortress, the cargo bay was full of crates stamped with the Science Dept and Weapons Development logo. Aeris was staring around in reluctant fascination when she rounded a corner and nearly bumped into one Professor Hojo.

  
“Cetra.” He said, nodding politely as though they’d last met at lunch. Caught halfway between attacking him and fleeing, Aeris involuntarily froze in place. Hojo walked on, and Elena eventually nudged her to keep walking, although more gently than she had previously. Apparently that reaction to Hojo was not uncommon.

  
Eventually, Aeris was directed into the Operations Room, where Rufus Shinra was sitting at the head of the table. Elena took up station by the door.

  
By now, Aeris had gathered her thoughts.

  
“You need to take us up.”

  
Rufus Shinra raised an eyebrow.

  
“I beg your pardon?”

  
“You need to take us up. If Sephiroth is looking for me, this is the first place he’ll try.”

  
Rufus raised an eyebrow. “This is the most secure place location on the Planet right now.”

  
“Like the Shinra Building? Like the Cargo Ship?”

  
Rufus stared at her for a second, then picked up his PHS.

  
“Hello, Bridge? I need you to take us up. Yes, now. Thank you.”

  
Then he stood. “ They’ll need me there. It appears we must continue this conversation later, Ms Gainsborough. I look forward to it.”

  
After Elena escorted her out, Aeris breathed out. She hadn’t been lying, she was sure Sephiroth wouldn’t want her to succeed, but she also didn’t want Cloud running into an armed to the teeth airship when he came to look for her.

  
That also meant, however, that there was no one coming to rescue her this time. From here, she was on her own.

  
000000

  
It was a long trudge through the forest before Barret’s boot hit something. He twitched his foot and kicked free a dirty but recognisable Princess Guard…with blood on the haft. He picked it up in his human hand as Tifa withdrew from the underbrush a familiar torn, blood spattered red jacket.

  
The sound of Cloud drawing his sword was loud in the silence that ensued.

  
“It’s not cut, it’s torn. Not Sephiroth. Not monsters. She wouldn’t leave this behind. What did you do?”

  
The Turks had no answer, but Cloud wasn’t really looking for one this time.

  
000000

  
They’d put her in the Highwind’s Chocobo stable, locked in with a beautiful green war hen named Berry. She was on the old side for a war bird, placid with her handlers until the moment she needed to be vicious. Seeing the newcomer, Berry began to pointedly sharpen her claws on the wall, but Aeris had no interest in any kind of dominance battle and was too exhausted to do much but fall asleep.  
She awoke to find the bird standing over her, feathers fluffed and in combat stance. Two foot razor sharp claws next to your head wasn’t the most comfortable situation, but Berry was looking towards the door, where Elena had reappeared.

  
“The President wants to talk to you.”

  
No point in stalling, that would just get the Chocobo killed, but Aeris appreciated the sentiment nonetheless, and spared time to hug the bird before leaving.

  
“I see you’ve been making friends,” Elena said en route. Aeris didn’t reply.

  
Inside Operations, Rufus was standing at the head of the table as though he’d never left. Aeris sat down. There was a moment of silence. Then he shrugged.

  
“Welcome to my ship.”

  
“You need to let me go.”

  
“I do? Why?”

  
“Sephiroth has the Black Materia. We have to stop him.”

  
“And you think you can? Why?”

  
“I can.”

  
“How?”

  
Aeris was silent. Rufus sighed. “You can’t expect me to just take that on trust. Especially from the crew that gave him the materia in the first place.”

  
“You think you could have done better?”

  
“Yes!”

  
“Well, tell that to Tseng.”

  
Rufus’ face went blank for a heartbeat, then he flicked on the monitor at the head of the table and did something to the controls. “You can tell him yourself.”

  
The monitor flicked on, displaying a room in some medical facility, with a view of Junon port out one window. Tseng was heavily bandaged and in an oxygen tent, but it was undeniably him. “He can’t speak, of course, but you can talk to him if you want. I hear you two were close, once.” He paused for a second, then continued, talking more quickly. “We were wondering if you might see your way towards healing him? I understand that’s among your talents.”

  
“Once, maybe. Not now.” Nonetheless, she found herself looking over at him. Tseng looked terrible, but he was breathing steadily, and the chart at the foot of the bed had ‘stable’ on it. Had he been dying, she might have given in, but as it was, she could only turn away.  
Rufus raised an eyebrow. “You parted on poor terms, then?”

  
“Ask Hojo.” On the bed, Tseng twitched, and Rufus hastily flicked off the screen. “I…see. How did you find his vigil, over the years?”  
”He was a poor bodyguard and a failure as a postman.”’ Rufus waited, watching her. “But a good friend, until the end,”Aeris admitted.

  
“Eighty eight letters, wasn’t it?”

  
“That’s about right. So you’ve seen them? I probably shouldn’t have sent so many nude photos.”

  
Rufus coughed the beginnings of a laugh, then narrowed his eyes. “You didn’t.”

  
True. She hadn’t. Anything in those letters could end up posted up in the Turk locker room, or worse, in Hojo’s lab with annotations. But that reaction told her Rufus hadn’t actually read her letters. So Tseng had had some sense of confidentiality, at least. She wondered if he’d read them himself, or if some vestige of gallantry had kept him from opening the seals.

  
Rufus was watching. “He’s always been loyal to his own. I’m sure he did his best for you.”

  
“Not enough.”

 

  
“He did try to deliver them, you know. He would have, I’m sure, had he known where to send them.”

  
“You know, I didn’t give them to Tseng by accident. I knew Zack wasn’t dead because I never felt it, but the fanclub had no word of him. That left a deserter, or a prisoner, and if anyone was going to know where either of those were, it would be the head of the Turks.” Aeris sighed. “I just have to hope he wasn’t stuck in a lab being poked all those years. It was a long time ago but I remember that not being fun.”

  
“You… feel every death?”

  
“ No. Well, sort of… It’s hard to explain, it’s like watching the news. If you know people well, you can pick faces out of a crowd sometimes. Um, or something.” Not quite an accurate explanation, but the closest she could come using words.

  
“Hm. Interesting… What do you feel from Sephiroth?”

  
“Nothing. I can’t tell if he’s alive or dead. I can only tell that the Planet doesn’t like him, and that your only chance of stopping him is to let me go.”

  
Rufus sighed. “Look, we have limited time before Sephiroth tries to use the Black Materia. If you have a way to stop him, Shinra is behind you. What do we need to do to earn your trust?”

  
“Let me go. No escort, no tracking.”  
Rufus stared at her for a moment, then surprised her by laughing. “Touche.”

  
He waved to Elena to take her back to the Chocobo Stable. “You’re an interesting person, Ms. Gainsborough, but we don’t have time for idle conversations. If you don’t tell me what you know, we can’t help each other.”

  
“You can help me. Let me go. Until then, the pleasure is all yours.”

  
000000

  
“What do you think?” Reno whispered, eyeing the City of the Ancients. They’d retreated today to remain victorious, but only so far that they could follow AVALANCHE through the forest. There had been several calls from the company, which they made sure to have all missed due to bad reception. A new mission that would call them away from here wasn’t desirable right now, not with a colleague in danger. But where had she gone, that remained a mystery. On foot, they couldn’t possibly have gone very far by now, but there was no trace of passage.

  
He’d say they were still lost in the forest, but they’d come across a dead Hungry that looked blown up from inside. So they’d at least made it out, but to where? Searching was difficult while avoiding confrontation with AVALANCHE, who were now worried enough that there could be no retreating next time. But for both their quarries missing so thoroughly, there could be only one conclusion, and it was an uncomfortable one: Sephiroth.

  
000000

  
Sephiroth Crescent was also rather confused about this train of events. The Cetra had made it through the Sleeping Forest, that much was clear, but appeared to have then vanished from sight. His first conclusion was that she was already closeted in the City’s inner sanctum. The Cetra of old had gone to great lengths to secure the shrine against the influence of Jenova, even he could not enter without a key or invitation. But she had by now had more than enough time to summon Holy had she been there, and so far he had felt nothing. Either she was a poor caster, had slipped and drowned, or there was something more to this. Cloud’s gang and the Turks were also in the City, frantically searching while desperately avoiding each other, which meant neither Shinra or AVALANCHE had whisked her away. Avoiding them both was not truly difficult, but a touch annoying at times, as well as the Highwind searching overhead. If this turn of events continued, he might have to force a confrontation in the hope that something shook loose.

  
000000

  
By the third night in the City, Cloud was becoming frustrated. They’d found a lunar harp with Aeris distinctive bootprint in it at the edge of the Sleeping Forest, and there were no signs of passage at the Cliffside into the mountains to the north, so she hadn’t left. Aeris’ light dress certainly wasn’t suitable for travel through snow, which meant she was somewhere in the city. But nowhere to be found.

Occasional glimpses of the Turks and Sephiroth conducting their own search didn’t make things any easier, the only comfort from that being that evidently they hadn’t found her yet either. The rest of the party were staying at Bone Village in case she doubled back, but so far there had been no sign. She had to be somewhere in the city. But where?

  
000000

  
By the time she was called back to the Operations room for the third time, Aeris’ resistance was wearing down. The longer she held off, the more likely it was that Sephiroth would find her, or he would find the rest of AVALANCHE.

  
To her surprise, Rufus was also looking somewhat haggard. Personal grooming suffered when the world was in jeopardy. Not a prisoner, he was of course better than she was, but not so well as their first meeting.

  
“Sephiroth is in the city.” He said by way of introduction. “So are your friends, and my Turks.”

  
“And your plans?”

  
“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Rufus said, slumping back on a chair. “We can bomb the city from here, but if we fail to kill Sephiroth we will draw his attention, as well as kill all our friends there.”

  
Aeris stole a glance at Elena, who as always was standing beside her chair. She looked sad but resolute. “You can’t contact them?”

  
“We could, but that would risk alerting Sephiroth to our presence.” Elena said, voice even, betraying nothing. “Turks have died to save the world before.”

  
“I might take the shot, even at that cost,” Rufus continued, “but your mysterious countermeasure has something to do with that city, and I could be destroying the only chance we have. So help me understand…how can you help me?”

  
“You can’t bomb the city,” Aeris said immediately, realising this was her only chance. “There is a countermeasure to the Black Materia, that I have the ability to activate, but I have to be there, undisturbed. It has to be me, and I have to be down there. If your bombing destroys it, and doesn’t kill Sephiroth, then we may have lost our last hope.”

  
“So it comes back to letting you go, and how far we trust each other again.” Rufus was silent, then sighed. “I’ll hold off for now. But I still need something from you before we let you leave.”

  
She probably couldn’t have expected much more. But it was disappointing. Berry, at least, was pleased to see her return.

  
000000

  
By the third day, Sephiroth had had enough loitering. The Cetra hadn’t summoned Holy, or even attempted to, which meant she wasn’t in the city. AVALANCHE and the Shinra had failed to draw her out, which meant it was down to him. He had a few ideas in that regard, at least.

  
To his credit, Rude saw him coming to their camp at the city’s edge, but Sephiroth’s Silence spell hit before he could do much more than kick Reno awake. The other Turk came up with EMR in hand, but couldn’t prevent a tremor when he saw who he was dealing with. As it should be.

  
“Hello,” Sephiroth said, amiably by his standards, “Or ‘yo’, if you prefer.”

  
“What do you want?” The Turk was hard eyed, but knew better than to attack so far.

  
“I’m curious about something…” Sephiroth said, pointing skyward with Masamune. “What are your friends looking for?”

  
“Our colleague, and Aeris.” Reno was a good liar, but Sephiroth was less listening to him than letting things play out in his brain. And this didn’t add up.

  
“A whole airship, for one lost Turk and a girl they couldn’t possibly know the importance of? Strange. What are your orders?”

  
Reno cracked a smile. “You have to know we’re not telling you that.”

  
“You may try, but I will find out. Why haven’t they picked you up?”

  
“Probably something to do with you being here.”

  
Sephiroth was silent, considering. Neither Turk moved.

  
“ ‘Probably.’ So you don’t know. They didn’t contact you , even though they must have seen me coming here. Sounds like people with something to hide. How interesting.”

  
Reno surged forward to attack, but Sephiroth had already disappeared.

  
000000

  
Aeris was just sitting down to another meeting when Rufus’ PHS rang in an insistent tone. He glanced at it, hesitated, then looked at her and excused himself. The phone was not on speaker, but Reno was not being discreet, and she clearly heard “Sephiroth, coming your way, boss.”

  
“Thank you,” Rufus said, closing his phone, and was dialling somewhere, probably the bridge, when the alarms blared.

  
000000

  
Sephiroth didn’t bother landing on deck, phasing through it to directly land on the bridge in a crowd of people. He scanned the faces, but saw no girl in pink.

  
“It’s good to see you again, Sephiroth.” said a voice out of his direct line of vision. He spun on it, ignoring the rapidly emptying bridge as Heidegger and Scarlet were bundled off to their panic rooms. Security would arrive soon, but until then , he was left with the flight crew that couldn’t leave their posts and the only other man that hadn’t run.

  
“Hojo.”

  
“You’ve become powerful,” Hojo said, his calm unnerving even to Sephiroth himself.

  
“Where’s the girl?”

  
“Downstairs. That’s all I know-”

  
Masamune flashed, and Hojo toppled over backwards, trailing blood. Sephiroth took a step towards the pilot.

  
He looked around. “Kill me, and we crash and you never find out if your girl is here or alive.” The man assumed this was a rescue mission. How cute. Still, crashing the ship before finding out if the Cetra was truly on board could present problems.  
Sephiroth left the bridge without further comment. He met security on the way.

  
The pilot breathed out, and Hojo drew a bubbling breath “I’m so proud…”

  
000000

  
Rufus had called up security feeds on the rest of the ship, monitoring Sephiroth’s path through the ship. There wasn’t space for a huge infantry presence aboard ship, but that didn’t mean it was undefended.

  
Dozens of the highest quality combat machines and most durable experiments Shinra had to offer had been automatically released from crates into his path. It was slowing him down, but not enough, and this wasn’t a big enough ship. He’d find them soon.  
Rufus sucked in a long breath through his teeth, then growled and pulled up a parachute from under the table.

  
“You had better be right. Go.”

  
“I am,” Aeris said, glancing towards the doors that had just been barred. He wanted her to go out _there_?

  
But he was unlatching a hatch in the ceiling that had an L inscribed on it for some reason. “This goes to the main deck. Jump, wait ten seconds, then pull the cord.”

  
“I need a jacket,” Aeris pointed out. She wasn’t being vain, dying of exposure if she landed off course would be an unfortunate ending to this experience.

  
Rufus reached for his coat, but Elena shed hers first, handing it over with an entreaty “Don’t fucking die!” She hoped she could oblige. Elena boosted her up to the hatch, and it closed behind her. No time for hesitation, she ran straight at the edge of the deck and leapt.  
Not only had she got to see an airship, she had parachuted off the side of it. While the circumstances had been less than ideal,an airship ride was an airship ride, and parachuting was not something she’d ever expected to experience. There may have been the occasional “Wooooo!” on the way down.

  
Against all odds, she landed perfectly where she wanted to go. neatly falling to her knees in the shallows of the pond outside the City’s Heart. Unfortunately, her landing had not gone unnoticed, and the EMR was pressed against the side of her neck before she could get out of the pool.

  
“ Where is Elena?” Reno hissed, a heartbeat from turning on the rod and frying her. He was very serious, this time. Anything but the truth could kill her, and she’d come too far to die now.

  
“On the Highwind. They let me go.”

  
“If you’re lying…”he promised, burning a circular scar into her neck.

  
“Stop right there!” They turned, to find Cloud,Tifa, and Barret on the edge of the lake in combat stances. Seemed her landing hadn’t been as discreet as she’d thought.

  
Reno tightened his grip. “One more step, and…”

  
“Pull that trigger, and you don’t walk away from this…” Cloud promised, not a blustery threat but quiet and intense “ Not this time. If we have to hunt you down, we will”. Beside him, Tifa gave a tight nod. Needing no persuasion, Barret already had his gunarm levelled.

  
Reno weighed his options a moment more, and evidently decided he had new priorities, releasing her and running. Aeris managed to get one step before being swept up in a hug from Cloud. He was strong and passionate, but she pulled herself free quickly enough. She’d save the celebratory kiss for if they survived this.

  
“Listen, no time to catch up, I have something to do. All you have to do is keep Sephiroth from following me, okay? Don’t let him by.”  
Cloud appeared confused, but agreed easily enough, and they all settled for a fight as Aeris ran full tilt into the weird seashell building.

  
000000

  
The Door to the Operations room burst open, and Rufus managed the satisfaction of seeing his first and only shot spark off Sephiroth’s pauldron before he was swept off his feet by a telekinetic wave. Sephiroth tossed something out the door behind him, something that grew into a huge tentacled mass, before resealing the doors and turning back to him as whatever monster he’d released held off the surviving guards. Gunfire was sounding outside, but it would take time to bring it down, and until then, the room was sealed.

  
“Where’s the girl?” Sephiroth said, stepping forward.

  
“Whatever do you mean?” Rufus asked, then hissed as Masamune went through his foot. Just a stab, he hadn’t lost the limb, although that didn’t mean it was painless.

  
“I won’t ask again,” Sephiroth said, completely calm. Rufus couldn’t help but note that he hadn’t carved a path through the best of Shinra security entirely unhurt, some of the blood on Sephiroth’s coat appeared to be his own. He wasn’t on death’s door, or even particularly close to it (Zack Fair had been an object lesson in just how much punishment a SOLDIER 1st could take) but the best security drones and monsters Shinra could make had made him bleed.

  
“You know better than to think you’ll get anything from me,” Rufus said, smiling.

  
“Then you’re no use to me.” Sephiroth raised his sword, and that was when Elena burst from under the table with a grenade in each hand. She flipped the table to keep Rufus shielded as the grenades detonated.

  
Even for a 1st, there was no room to escape in these tight quarters, and Sephiroth was thrown hard into the nearest wall. Elena had been using shaped charges to spare herself the worst of it, but she was left unconscious instantly with multiple broken bones.  
The Great Sephiroth took five long seconds to get to his feet, a black shadow against the dust in the air. He was certainly bleeding now, but still a long way from dead.

  
“Impressive” Sephiroth said, with fresh blood streaming down his face, “She’s earned you one more chance.”

  
Coughing dust, Rufus shook his head.

  
Sephiroth shook his head. “Defiant to the end. Just like your father.”

  
Masamune flashed. Rufus stayed conscious long enough to watch Sephiroth suddenly twitch like a cat and disappear.

  
000000

  
Sephiroth, as usual, gave no warning. He was simply there, in front of them with sword raised. “Where?”

  
Cloud smirked, assured for once. “I’m not about to tell you.” He took in Sephiroth’s bloody appearance and smiled further. “Get lost?”

Sephiroth was even limping, although always a long way from dead or harmless. Still, it was immensely satisfying just watching him not be in control of the situation for once.

  
Sephiroth vanished, reappeared behind Cloud and to his left, driving forward with Masamune

  
**CLANG.**

  
They both stopped, stepped back, Cloud had been driven back two paces by the clash, but successfully blocked the impaling strike. Sephiroth cut aside the counterthrust, and smashed him in the face with the base of Masamune's hilt. Cloud fell, nose broken and unconscious, and Tifa ran to pull him out of the shallows as Barret opened up full auto. Sephiroth blocked most of the burst, but one stray round went through his shoulder before he vanished, reappearing on top of the building. He switched Masamune to his right hand and took a new stance, noting the AVALANCHErs scrambling to block the doorway of the seashell building.

  
“I think I have my answer. Well then-”

  
“You’re too late!” Aeris said scrambling out of the building’s front doorhole. “I’ve already summoned Holy. It’s done, even if you kill us all.”

  
They had the rare pleasure of seeing Sephiroth miss a step, almost lose his composure. Then he smiled, and spread his arms out.

  
“And yet, here I am. Is that truly the best the Planet can do?”

  
“We’ll see.” Aeris said, setting her feet and raising her staff.

  
“Indeed we will.” Sephiroth said, as Cloud groaned and tried to get up. “If you wish to see in person, then come North, and follow.”  
And he was gone.

  
“Well,” Aeris said, leaning on her stave as she hobbled to join them, the summoning obviously taking a lot out of her, “that went better than expected.” With Cloud semi conscious in Tifa’s arms, she postponed the kiss again. One day…

  
“Nice jacket,” Tifa said, rising from her crouch to deliver her own hug. “Welcome back.”

“Not sure it suits me. Got it from a Turk. I lost mine in the forest.”

  
“ We found it. I sewed it while we were waiting. Wait, a Turk? What happened to you?”

  
“You found it? Awesome, thanks. It’s a very long story.”

  
“So what happens now?” Barret asked, reloading, watching the trees for Sephiroth appearances. He was prone to popping up at unexpected times.

  
“I guess we follow,” Aeris said, stretching out hers arms. “If Holy wasn’t enough, we have to bridge the gap. When our glorious leader wakes up, we’ll talk things over. It feels good to be free. I have a story for you…”

  
000000

  
The Highwind had set down in the Corral Valley some distance from the City of the Ancients, but Reno and Rude made good time, and got there shortly after it landed. Sephiroth had forgotten to come back and kill the pilot, so the ship had landed safely, with only minor structural damage.

  
Sephiroth’s standard carnage was still very much in evidence inside, though.

  
There hadn’t been many soldiers on board as they lacked space to house them, but monsters and machines had been evident in plenty, and most of those were now gone or in pieces across the main cargo hold. The two Turks made straight for Operations, running past Hojo walking with a cane reminiscing happily about Sephiroth’s new abilities. They didn’t slow down, kicking open the door that the trail of blood helpfully led to.

  
“Welcome back,” Rufus said, a bit lightheadedly, “you missed the fun.”

  
The two Turks exchanged glances, not calmed yet. Rufus was alive, but that wasn’t their first concern this time. Rufus nodded towards a bundle of bandages and splints on the floor with a tuft of blonde hair poking out. “Impressive performance on the whole. Remind me to give her a pay rise. She’ll live, but will be out of action for months. I’m thinking a bed beside Tseng in Junon?”

  
Elena gave a strangled moan from her bandages.

  
“What about you, sir?”

  
“Oh, I’ll live. Probably.” He was wearing the same type of armoured coat that Tseng favoured, which had slowed the one strike Sephiroth had graced him with enough to turn a fatal strike into a merely life threatening one. “I don’t suppose you know if Aeris made it to ground level?”

  
“We met her. She said you let her go?”

  
“She said she could save the Planet, and Sephiroth seemed to agree.” Rufus Shinra closed his eyes, blood loss drunk but still focused for now. “So now we get to find out if they were right. We’ll need to resupply the Highwind before we follow.

  
“Get some rest, gentlemen. Tomorrow we find out if we did enough to save the world.”

**Author's Note:**

> Huh... for once I'm actually on point with the prompt. Hope you like it.


End file.
